


it all started with a coffee

by pricc



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bakery and Coffee Shop, I'm Bad At Tagging, Multi, Starbucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-06 13:11:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16833292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pricc/pseuds/pricc
Summary: It all started with a coffee.Bruce Banner, one of the world's most celebrated scientists, also works part time at Starbucks. It helps to have a bit of extra money in your pocket, ya know?Thor has come to Earth for the first time in a while, so he decides to get some Starbucks with his bitchy brother, Loki.





	1. can I take your order?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work and a prompt from my friend: "it all started with a coffee." I hope you like it!!

Bruce was always drinking coffee. It was a lifestyle, honestly. It was also kind of Tony's fault, but whatever.

He also worked at one of the world's largest known coffee shops, Starbucks. Great, right?

He had been working there for a while, and he had been improving his social skills a little bit. Plus, the atmosphere was so calm there, and there was little chance the other guy would appear.

Slightly awkward when a super hot blond guy came up and all he could do was stutter.

He had come up to the cash register, smiling like a school photo that actually turned out really good. "I'll take a caramel latte. Loki, what do you want?"

The smaller, skinner guy with black hair didn't look up from his phone. "You know what I want." The taller man groaned. "I do not. You always have some absurdly stupid request, so you can do it yourself."

Loki sighed, and then said, "I guess I'll have a green tea smoothie. Please use skim milk and no whipped cream, and put it in a grande cup with the same amount you'd put into a tall."

Bruce's head was spinning, but he managed to put everything in correctly. "Uh, name please?"

The blond man smiled, and Bruce felt like he was melting. "Thor. Please refrain from spelling it wrong." He handed Bruce a piece of paper with his name on it. _I know most Starbucks employees get people's names wrong on purpose, but I'd never do that!_

He sent the order to his co-worker, Christine Palmer, known to others as Christy. "Have fun with this one, Christy, it's a handful." Bruce chuckled at the far away sounds of her cursing.

After the two drinks finished, he handed them to Thor.

Their hands touched for a moment.

It felt like the longest moment in the world.

Finally, they retracted, and before the two left, Thor turned back to Bruce, smiling. "Please do check the paper I gave you." Before Bruce could ask, the two exited.

Bruce held up the paper, reading Thor's name and wondering how someone could have such graceful handwriting. Then, he saw it. A minuscule font, at the bottom of a paper.

A phone number.

He turned red as he saw it. A phone number? It had to be a joke. Still, he put it in his pocket, nice and safe. Then, another man entered the building. "Stephen!" Bruce smiled at the man. 

Stephen Strange was a doctor, emphasis on was. He quit for some reason, and now came every day to be with Christine and drink coffee with her on her break. "Hello, Bruce. Just my regular americano." Christine then appeared, smiling as she saw Stephen. "Hello my love!" She hugged him and traced her hands over his. Bruce then noticed Stephen's hands looked weird, and were shaking. Maybe it was just because of Christy.

Bruce smiled at the two. "My shift is done. Have fun, you two. Maybe not too much," he winked. As Stephen turned red and Christine was about to throw a cup at him, he bolted out the door.

He walked down the street, still thinking about Thor. _It's fake,_ he told himself. _It's in your best interest to throw it away._ Still, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

At his apartment, he texted his best friend, Tony.

**Bruce: tony you're the gay one I need help**

**Tony: hello yes that is me**

**Tony: wait do you have your eyes on someone???**

**Bruce: maybe.**

**Tony: SKSKKSKSKSKSK I'M SO PROUD I KNEW YOU'D FALL IN LOVE SOMEDAY**

**Bruce: shut up**

**Tony: so who is it? are they cute? are they good sex material?**

**Bruce: fuck you**

**Tony: seriously tho who is it**

**Bruce: idk but he gave me his number I'm scared it's fake**

**Tony: bitch this is your one chance at love you better call him**

**Bruce: fine I hate you**

**Tony: ily2**

Bruce sighed as he closed Tony's chat. "Better now than never." 

Little did he know, he spent two hours talking to Thor. They had arranged a date -- no, a meeting -- at Starbucks again. He was ecstatic, until he remembered he would have to ask Christine if she'd be okay with it. She was actually fine with it ("as long as I meet your new boyfriend") so he couldn't wait until this Thursday.

He looked at his calendar. 

Monday.

It would be a long it would be a long three days.


	2. socializing is hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title is basically me lol
> 
> Bruce and Thor go on a "date." It's kind of awkward because they know almost nothing about each other, but whatever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fluff!!!!!
> 
> don't worry I'll put in lots of angst for you guys later when they're more in love :')

Bruce was really excited for Thursday. Then Thursday came and he was a mess.

It was almost like those talent shows people go to. It seems like a good idea, and you're super excited. Then you get on stage and people are staring and it's really nerve racking.

Fun, right?

Anyway, it was 1:00 at Starbucks on this lovely day, and Bruce was freaking out. They had arranged it for 12:30. Did he bail? It was a joke, wasn't it? He knew it. He stood up from the booth and almost crashed into Thor.

Thor smiled at him, helping him up. "I'm so sorry I'm late. My brother insisted on bringing his dog, which had not entered the premises, because you know, no dogs. I can't believe he named a dog Figrice anyway."

Thor was still that blond, amazingly cute mess he was, with one major difference than last Monday: there was one less eye than Bruce remembered. "What happened to your eye?"

Thor chuckled. "Family issues." Bruce laughed. "I bet."

They sat down, and immediately, it was awkward.

I mean, you couldn't blame them. They literally just met, haven't they? What good conversations could come from that? At a attempt for conversation, Bruce mumbled, "so how is your family?" Thor looked at him with the single eye he had left. It was pretty unnerving. Kind of hot, too.

"Well, there's my brother, Loki. He's a handful. A real god of mischief. My father, who exists, I guess, and my mother, who wants me to keep Loki out of trouble, which is impossible. Then there's Hela, my bratty half sister who kind of took my eye." 

Bruce tried not to laugh. There was a joking tone, but the story sounded really serious. He then realized he was supposed to answer. "Well, my mom died when I was young, and my dad recently died." Thor looked at him sadly. "My condolences. You must have loved them."

"Not really my dad much, but yeah."

They sat there in silence.

"So," Bruce tried again, "do you like science?" Thor's eye lit up. "It is quite the interesting subject." They both smiled.

* * *

Two hours later, in the middle of a discussion of possible solutions for problems found in space, Bruce received a text. "I'm sorry-"

**Tony: how's it going? You've been gone for two hours so I'm assuming it went well**

"Two hours?"

Bruce looked up in disbelief. Thor looked tired. "Oh no. I'm quite sorry, Banner, but my brother must have done something stupid in this time period, so I must run. Maybe another time?" Bruce stuttered, "T-there's another time?" 

"Definitely."

* * *

Bruce had met up with Tony and Christine at 5 in the very same booth he was at with Thor. Christine and Tony said the same thing at the same time: "spill. now."

He told them everything, from his beautiful, single eye to his obnoxious brother.

Tony frowned. "Thor. Loki. Weird names. Even weirder name for a dog; "Figrice"? I mean, I like figs and rice as much as the next guy--"

"You hate figs."

"-- _Shut up_. But that's the stupidest name I've ever heard. And Thor and Loki sound really familiar. Maybe my ninth grade Norse mythology project," he joked.

Christine did not seem to care about the names of the humans or the dog. "He sounds amazing, Bruce! If you guys don't kiss on the next date, I'm suing." Bruce blushed. "Shut up! It's not a date."

"Not a date my ass. Two hours of talking about boring science? Sounds perfect to me."

"Hey," Bruce protested, "science is an intriguing and initiative subject-" Tony cut him off. "Seriously. You guys seem to be perfect for one another. You like science and you're both gay as hell. Go for it. On the other hand," he said with a smile, "I think someone's gonna _propose_ , Christy."

Christine turned red. "Stephen? Now? H-He wouldn't. Would he?" Tony smirked. "I don't know. He seemed really interested in jewelry when we went shopping." This snapped Christine out of her trance. " _shopping???_ " Tony merely shrugged. "What can I say? You gotta keep a bromance alive, don't ya?"

Bruce was just smiling at the two and totally not thinking about anyone.

Christine smiled back. "I know that look. It's when he's hopelessly in love and can't think straight. Both literally and figuratively."

Bruce didn't stop smiling. "I hate you guys so much."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, the sweet dog that is Figrice
> 
> bls don't ask about the name
> 
> Also I feel like loki would get a dog because everyone's like "omg loki is such a cat person" and he could get a dog to spite them
> 
> also because dogs are cool
> 
> Also I'm thinking of having Stephen propose and then die or sometime because angst right


	3. meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dogs and mothers basically intimidate bruce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruce meets frigga (who is alive eat die) Odin, loki and figrice the dog as the author fights off writer's block and Christine hides something from him and Tony.
> 
> I'm sorry about temporarily dying, but I've been thinking about a marvel and heroes of Olympus crossover, tell me what you think in the comments!

"Basically, you want me to meet your family. And dog."

Thor gave Bruce a big smile, which made it kind of hard to concentrate. "Yes, those are the basics. Loki wants to probably threaten you, but you can ignore him, and my mother and father would love to meet you. The evil half sister is indisposed at the moment. It won't be a dinner or anything. Just a hello, introduction, and goodbye." 

Bruce was extremely hesitant. Meet Thor's parents? And scary ass brother? The dog didn't sound too bad, but still.

Thor looked Bruce sadly. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. It would be nice..." It was impossible to say no to that face. Bruce finally caved in as Thor gave him a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, Banner! I promise, they won't hurt you." 

_What did that mean??_

* * *

It was Saturday. Which was the day scheduled for Bruce to meet Thor's family. He was freaking out. What if they didn't like him? What if the dog bit him and it didn't have all the proper shots?

As if on cue, a small, extremely fluffy dog came barking at Bruce.

It was honestly really cute. Bruce liked dogs, and he could tell this was a poodle mix with probably a dachshund, since it was with the same hot dog shape. Loki came running after it, saying "calm down Figrice," "it's just a human." He had no idea what the hell a kind of a name was that, or what he meant by just a human, but it was kind of awkward.

Bruce saw Thor and his heart melted. He looked really happy. He was also surrounded by two people who one could assume was his mother and father. The two introduced themselves (Frigga and Odin. Strange names, but who was he to judge?) and Loki didn't even bother. 

It was mostly small talk. Nothing quite interesting.

The really strange part was when they all left. Frigga turned to Bruce with a smile. "You make my son very, very happy. Please do not disappoint him."

_wait,,,,, what??_

* * *

Bruce sat once again with Christine and Tony, whom he had told every detail to. Tony was frowning. "Weird ass names. Seriously. Maybe I should be looking these people up. They might be serial killers."

Bruce stared at Tony in horror. "I don't think they are! Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Loki was. But still!"

Christine puffed. "Chill out Tony. You're way too protective. You're like a momma bear." Tony just snorted. "Anyways," Christine continued, "What do you think his mom meant by that last thing? I think he really likes you!"

Bruce blushed and said, "well, maybe just as a friend."

He then noticed something different. "Christy, what's that?" He pointed to a beautiful golden ring with a diamond encrusted onto the top. She was the one turning red as the two men completely just stared.

"I was gonna tell you guys later. Guess I should have been more discreet. As much as I hate to admit it, Tony, you were right. You guys are totally invited, by the way," she hastily added. Bruce smiled at her. "Christy, I'm so happy for you two. Where is Stephen, anyway?"

She immediately looked down and stared at her feet. "Work."

Tony and Bruce exchanged looks.

Stephen's new job was a conversation topic that came up frequently, but Christine and Stephen dodged, avoided and changed the topic every time it came up. It was honestly concerning the two men. Especially Tony.

"Christy, why do you never tell us his job? I mean, I'm Ironman! And Bruce is the Hulk! We won't think it's weird or anything." Bruce nodded earnestly.

Christine then received a text, and her face darkened. "Gotta go," she mumbled, then dashed off. Tony stared directly at Bruce and said, "We need to find out what's going on."


	4. Sneaky Snek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Tony try to figure out what Stephen and Christine are up to. They're extremely surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a platonic sciencebros chapter and some good old suspense and mild angst!! yayyyy
> 
> A bit short, I'm fighting off writers block. Wish me luck
> 
> Comments are highly appreciated!!

New York was a beautiful place. Sure, polluted and loud, always going fast but getting nowhere. That was the beauty of it though, wasn't it? 

Christine was rushing through the damp streets, taking off her jacket. This revealed a hospital uniform. 

This wasn't a surprise to her followers, to put it lightly. Tony and Bruce had been following her to figure out what was happening. She refused to open up to them about Stephen, so they would find their own way. She took a turn, which would have revealed Tony, but Bruce pulled him back. "Thanks."

She went to the hospital she worked at, and had gone through the front desk. "Great," groaned Bruce, "what do we do now?" Tony just gave him a mischievous grin, one he knew all too well. "I got it. You go ahead, I'll be behind ya."

Bruce pulled opened the door and noticed Christine's bright red ponytail turn left. He rushed after. Tony was behind since he had been seducing the desk clerk, showering her with complements. "What would Pepper say?" hissed Bruce. "She would recognize it as a good cause," joked Tony.

Christine went into a small room filled with cleaning supplies. They peered through the window.

An amber portal opened up, and Stephen walked through it. The two gasped.

Stephen was wearing strange blue-gray robes and a red cloak. There was a necklace the shape of an eye dangling from his neck. There was also some random orange gloves. Of course, you couldn't forget the g **iant stab wound he had in his chest?!**

There was a weird sword that seemed to be made of ice or glass sticking out of his middle ribs. Blood was everywhere. Tony and Bruce hid behind an door as Christine and Stephen staggered to a empty operating table. Tony shot Bruce a look that said "what the hell is happening," in which he got the response, "good question."

After a solid hour of operating, Stephen seemed to be much better. He stood up, kissed Christine goodbye, and opened the portal again into wherever the hell and it closed behind him. Christine jumped at Tony's stern voice. 

"You've got a lot of explaining to do."


End file.
